Interview: BAC Directors David Jubb and David Micklem celebrate 30 years of inventing the future of theatre
This spring, BAC celebrates its 30th anniversary with two events that reflect the wide role the venue has played in ‘inventing the future’ of British theatre during the last three decades. Kneehigh’s award winning production The Red Shoes returns to BAC for its last ever London staging, and the ONE-ON-ONE festival of theatre for one audience member at a time is remounted following its phenomenal success in 2010 (read our review written by James Cowen). The 30th anniversary will also see the launch of Artist Bedrooms, created by artists for artists, enabling them to live at the venue for residencies of up to four months at a time. Run Riot caught up with BAC's directors David Jubb and David Micklem to hear about the anniversary, future plans, partying with Vivienne Westwood, the joy of Artist Bedrooms, and their first taste of 'performance'.
RR: What were your first experiences of 'performance'?
David Jubb: I literally can’t remember. I’ve blanked it out. If I close my eyes and think very hard I can remember hot legs, itchy trousers and being forced to sit still for an inordinately long period of time, surrounded by people who seemed to have mastered the art of watching theatre and gently snoozed their way through the whole experience. I recently went to see a play in the West End and was both strangely reassured and disturbed to see that this is still happening in the 21st century. The first time I remember watching theatre and not wishing I was somewhere else was seeing DV8’s Strange Fish in 1992. It’s now available as a film. I later found out that DV8 received their first commission at Battersea Arts Centre. My love of theatre’s possibilities began through experiencing the work of Jonathan Kay, Faulty Optic, Forced Entertainment, Ridiculusmus and Kneehigh.
David Micklem: I grew up thinking theatre was pretty dull. Or that I wasn’t clever enough to understand the glacial pace of most of the plays I had seen. Most of what I had experienced was actors pretending to be someone else in a room and failing to acknowledge that an audience was in that room too. I had only seen plays. I didn’t know what performance was. Then one night in 1990 I saw Volcano Theatre Company’s 'V' and it blew my mind. It was physical and dangerous and there was sweat and blood and it was all about culture, class, nationalism and the violence of youth. 20 years on and I can still remember the electric feeling of an audience experiencing something extraordinary in that room together.
RR: As part of the 30th Birthday the BAC will be presenting the final (ever) London performance of Kneehigh's Red Shoes as well as the second year of the highly successful ONE-ON-ONE Festival. Why have you chosen these two events to celebrate the 30th anniversary?
DJ & DM: BAC’s mission is to invent the future of theatre. As we have approached BAC’s 30th birthday, we have been developing a new vision for BAC. We have been talking with artists, audiences, our terrific staff team, with people who participate in BAC programmes or use the building, with people who do neither, with teachers, architects, trustees, investors and a whole bunch of other people who love BAC as much as we do. We think the collective vision that has emerged from all these conversations is exciting. We hope audiences start to feel the difference: a clearer sense of what’s on; a warmer welcome; a richer experience of the building; that audiences begin to think of BAC as a second home; a place to meet friends and hang out; a place to express creativity. For us, theatre is not just about shows, it is a shared space for enjoying life and inventing new ideas; every community should have one. The Red Shoes offers audiences an intimate and epic journey whilst the ONE-ON-ONE Festival offers private and personal journeys for one audience member at a time. For us, the two experiences represent the range of work BAC has supported and that despite their differences share common values: a passion for the experience of the audience; the audience absolutely at the heart of the theatre experience; a generous, playful, participatory and heartfelt theatre.
RR: How important is theatre to society during this time of austerity?
DJ & DM: Theatre during a time of austerity, as it does during a time of plenty, offers us the opportunity to come together and share stories. Stories are a primary way we make sense of our world, they help us understand each other and our own experiences. Theatres can be places where we encounter stories in a uniquely live way, in congregation with other people to share that moment. It's no coincidence that theatre and performance are tools for the modern protest movement: creating participatory and engaging ways for people to understand someone else's perspective. Great theatre is about creating empathy. You could watch Kneehigh's The Red Shoes as an outsider or a member of the establishment, you could watch it in a depressed or affluent community, as a lone voice or as part of a massive community. The experience has the potential to transport you, or even transform you, in any context. We think great artists ask great questions and we are interested in artists playing a greater role throughout our communities: in schools, in politics and in leading change. We think that watching a show together is just a beginning regardless of the economic climate.
RR: The BAC patron Dame Vivienne Westwood will be hosting the official 30th birthday party that'll also be a fundraiser for the Artist Bedrooms project. What will happen at the party, and what is Artist Bedrooms?
DJ & DM: Dame Vivienne Westwood will be hosting a birthday fundraiser on 24th March. It is a fundraiser for a number of artists’ bedrooms at BAC – spaces where we can welcome artists to live and work in BAC’s beautiful Town Hall home. We have commissioned six artists, including the likes of David Rosenberg, Kazuko Hohki and Ray Lee, to create six one-on-one performances in new bedrooms that we build, together, at BAC. These one-on-one performances will be a strand of work through the festival but will also leave a legacy of six specially created bedrooms that we can offer to artists for residencies after the festival. We’re very excited that from April of this year we will be able to uniquely offer artists from across the UK and across the world residence spaces here at BAC. We can’t think of another London theatre that can offer this great resource to artists. The creation of these bedrooms is part of BAC’s ongoing “playground project” where we use the building, Battersea’s seventy-two room former Town Hall, as a playground for the collective imaginations of artists and audiences. We test, over time, new ways of using the building, placing artists at the heart of these experiments. The fundraiser on 24th March will be a chance for you to put on your (red) dancing shoes, enjoy a special performance of The Red Shoes, eat, drink and get a sneak preview of the bedrooms and our ONE-ON-ONE Festival. You can sponsor a set of pillowcases for £30, an artist bed and bookshelf for £300, or an entire bedroom for £3000! Find out more here (download the PDF) for something fun, or here for listings information for the event.
RR: The BAC's mission is to 'invent the future of theatre’ - what do you see in your crystal ball?
DJ & DM: At BAC we’re imagining a home for creativity where a wide range of people come together to celebrate all kinds of things – extraordinary theatre, weddings, workshops, parties, live music and more. A place where new ideas flourish, risks can be taken, where connections are made between people from all kinds of backgrounds as artists and participants. We want theatre in the 21st century to be the engine rooms that drive positive change and help us work out what could happen next. We know this sounds ambitious. And in these political and economic times perhaps more difficult to realise. But to us, it is central to our vision for what theatre can achieve. If you want to find out more about what we are doing at BAC click here.
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